Green Party focuses on more than environment

In general, I agree with some of the points made in the editorial. However, I would like to point out a couple of areas that require clarification.

Contrary to what many still believe, the B.C. Green Party is not simply focused on the environment. The 2017 election platform (available on the website) covered a full spectrum of issues with an emphasis on modernizing the way we view economic growth and the creation of a healthy, prosperous society.

The party does believe fundamentally that every policy decision must take a holistic, evidence-based approach because we all know it is not possible to have a strong economy and an equitable society without paying close attention to environmental sustainability at every step. Just look at the catastrophic climate-change-related events recently in the U.S. to see the results of short-sighted political decision-making in action.

And I would certainly argue that the passing of the referendum on proportional representation this fall would not only benefit the Greens, it would benefit every voter by making everyone’s vote count. Over and over, people say they would have voted Green, but didn’t want to “waste” their vote on a candidate they didn’t think could win.

Assuming (and hoping!) the PR referendum is successful, I strongly suspect that the Greens could win the majority of seats in 2021. Then we’ll see what a truly modern, progressive and fair government looks like.